Scala News has received the following press release from the Mayor of Muro Lucano:
Muro Lucano celebrates, from August 30 to September 2, 2025, the great feast of Saint Gerard Majella, Patron of the city and of all Basilica, declared as such by Saint John Paul II on April 21, 1994.
Saint Gerard, a humble Redemptorist brother born in Muro Lucano, continues to challenge us with the strength of his faith and his tireless charity. He is a saint who evokes the dignity of our roots and the beauty of solidarity: values that the Lucanians have never ceased to appreciate and which today, more than ever, are presented as a treasure to be protected and passed on.
The culminating moment will be on Tuesday, September 2nd: in the morning, the effigy of Saint Gerard will be carried from the Cathedral to the Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle, through the streets of Muro Lucano. In the afternoon, at 5:15 p.m., the solemn procession of the Saint will take place, returning to the Cathedral, where His Excellency Monsignor Davide Carbonaro, Metropolitan Archbishop of Potenza, Muro Lucano, and Marsiconuovo, will preside over the solemn Eucharistic Concelebration, enriched by the evocative rite of presenting the “Ring of Saint Gerard Majella,” a symbol of the unity of the people of Lucano, to the mayors elected last year in the Basilica.
This year, the mayors of Lavello, Senise, Tolve, Bernalda, Irsina, and Matera will receive the ring, joining a symbolic embrace that unites all Lucanian communities in a journey of brotherhood.
The rite has its origins in a founding episode of Gerardian spirituality: Gerardo Maiella, 21, during the preparation of the procession of the Effigy of the Immaculate Conception in Muro Lucano in May 1747, removed the ring he was wearing and, in ecstasy, placed it on the hand of the statue of the Virgin, proclaiming: “Here I am, espoused to the Virgin!” From this gesture, full of faith and love for Mary, was born the meaning of the ring as a symbol of alliance, dedication, and unity.
The ceremony will be held at the end of Mass in the Muro Lucano Cathedral, the spiritual heart of this tradition, where devotion also becomes a civic commitment.
Mayor
Giovanni Setaro
